House Finance Committee advances bill to bar swipe fees on taxes and tips after hours of testimony

The Colorado House Finance Committee voted 9‑3 to advance House Bill 12‑82 on a favorable recommendation after more than three hours of testimony from restaurant owners, industry groups, banks and credit unions.

Sponsor Rep. Sam Brooks opened the hearing by saying the bill "only addresses one unjustifiable practice and that is charging businesses and consumers swipe fees only on the taxes and tips portion." Proponents argued the change would return millions of dollars a year to small businesses and their workers, while opponents — including state‑chartered banks, credit unions and payment processors — said the measure risks costly litigation and could disrupt payments systems.

The bill would prohibit payment card networks from calculating interchange fees on amounts that represent sales taxes or gratuities, a practice proponents described as a recurring cost applied to dollars that…